BY JESSICA LAPPIN | For centuries the Hudson River was filled with the sounds of ships, barges, people and commerce. The daily life of the river was the daily life of our city. Tragically, we abused this great resource and polluted it to near extinction and in the process put our relationship to the […]

BY DIEM BOYD | Bill Bratton’s return as commissioner of the New York Police Department brings with it his trademark “broken windows” policing policy. Bratton’s strategy advocated for a hard-line approach on low-level crime and quality-of-life violations predicated on the belief that a “disorderly city is a dangerous city.” The crack in Bratton’s “broken window” […]

BY DAVID STANKE | The Port Authority is on the brink of ensuring that the World Trade Center will be restored some 17 years after the its complete destruction. This is not a bold accomplishment, and given the history of indecision and misdirection, it should also be no surprise that the Port is about to […]

BY PAUL SCHINDLER | Faced with nearly unremitting opposition from congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama has, in the past couple of years and even more so in recent days, spoken about moving his agenda forward through the issuance of executive orders and other administrative actions. In perhaps the most dramatic example of that approach, the […]

BY PAUL SCHINDLER | When Bill de Blasio stood on the steps of City Hall Jan. 1 to be sworn in as New York’s 109th mayor, nothing in the inaugural ceremony suggested a hint of retreat from the progressive themes his campaign raised. That’s encouraging, but the proving ground will likely be the next […]

BY BILL WEINBERG | As a long-suffering New York City bicyclist, I really want to take heart in Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial measures to accommodate human-powered transport. But since the very start, it has all smelled suspicious. Five years ago, the “congestion pricing” plan to charge motorists to enter Manhattan seemed a prescription for accelerating the […]

By David Stanke | Various 9/11 activists are protesting plans by the W.T.C. Memorial foundation to charge $20 to enter the memorial museum. Complaints emanate largely from the same sources who have been complaining about the memorial for over a decade. The predominant philosophy of these activists till now has been: “Too much is never […]

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | As the State Legislature’s session drew to a close last month, a sweeping bill which would allow the Hudson River Park to transfer its unused air rights, was quietly passed by both the Assembly and the State Senate. “Radio silence” was how one stunned park watchdog described how the bill suddenly […]

BY LEILANI WIZNER | As a nine-year-old biker (who bikes to school with her younger sister and mother), there are a lot of challenges to face. People walk in the bike paths with headphones on, so they don’t hear us blowing our horns or shouting “excuse me.” This can cause accidents if you have to […]

BY MICHELE HERMAN | Many of us do things on the side that are formative and possibly noble but hardly get a line on our resumes. For the past 16 years, I have been an active New York City public school parent. Most of those years I’ve served on the executive board of one P.T.A. […]